BEIJING (AFP) - Foreign reporters will not have complete access to the Internet during the Beijing Olympics, Games organisers said Wednesday, reversing a pledge to bring down the Chinese firewall of censorship.

"During the Olympic Games we will provide sufficient access to the Internet for reporters," said Sun Weide, spokesman for the organising committee.

However "sufficient" access falls short of the complete Internet freedoms for foreign reporters that China's communist authorities had promised in the run-up to the Games, which begin on August 8.

The head of the International Olympic Committee's press commission, Kevan Gosper, told AFP that he would take the matter up with Chinese authorities.

--snip--

Australian Olympic team chief John Coates, who is also an IOC member, expressed frustration with the decision to continue to censor the Internet, pointing out that China had gone back on one of its "key" Olympic promises.

"It certainly is disappointing... I think it's a matter that the IOC will take seriously," Coates told reporters at the main press centre for the Games here where sensitive Internet sites remained blocked.

Coates said that IOC president Jacques Rogge and Gosper would have "very serious discussions with the Chinese authorities" about the issue.

However he said he was not sure whether the IOC had the power or influence to convince the authorities to give foreign reporters free access to the Internet.

"What (IOC leaders) can do about it, I don't know," he said.

In an exclusive interview with AFP two weeks ago, Rogge insisted that there would be no censorship of the Internet.

The games are self-evidently political and always have been so, and if you think they aren't being used as propaganda by the Chinese government, or weren't so used by the Soviets or the NAZIS then you're seriously mistaken.

"Isn't FR enough for you to get your political fix without having to ruin the chance of a lifetime for our athletes. Are you really agreeing with Jimmy Carter. That was such a bonehead move then that devastated many dreams without accomplishing anything."

Actually I made no mention of the athletes, and did not suggest, as you contend, that they stay home. I suggested that it was regrettable that the President would be in attendance as it lends undeserved prestige and credibility. I would not want to prevent these athletes from their hard-earned opportunity to compete, and did not suggest so.

"They can wave proudly to our president - not as a political figure but as the representative of the greatest nation on earth that is not afraid to participate in the Olympics."

I find it amusing of course that your notion of waving in "pride" at the representative of the "greatest nation on earth" would somehow not have political significance.

"With your resolve of American Spirit we would still be under the rule of the British and have the cut-and-run reputation of the French."

"American spirit" and national reputations such as that you ascribe to France are of course overtly political in nature. Nevertheless, I personally don't see the connection between wartime resolve and the President sitting in the viewing box at an Olympics staged by a communist authoritarian state who we are beholden to with regards to monetary policy and with whom we share a massive trade imbalance. On the other hand it suggests a lack of political courage and a tacit acknowledgment that China is too powerful and too dangerous to offend.

How are they gonna stop satellite access? Can't filter those networks. I'm sure Finland has some well-known proxy servers. You can take a GSM phone .. the connection would be slow but it would get you out.

It's gonna be funny to see how our leftist media likes having to use tricks to bypass the Great Firewall of China to get their stories out from their Communist utopia. They will be caught, when the Chinese read the story they were able to sneak out. Then they will be booted out of the country and never allowed to come back.

As their Protologist is trying to remove that Chinese boot from their butt, I would love to be able to ask them, "How do you like Communism now?"

China already censors some web sites (not FR, however), so this isn’t really news. I’m in Beijing right now and can’t, for example, get Engrish.com. I suspect they also censor any separatist webs sites or any aimed at launching attacks (verbal or otherwise) on the Olympics themselves.

Though the chi-coms will practice censorship, and will beat down any protests with massive force. Though rights have been suspended and protesters jailed. the Main stream media will speak glowingly of their fellow socialist brothers the chi-coms

Dude, what the hell do you think China has been doing since being awarded the Games but politicizing?

They can wave proudly to our president - not as a political figure but as the representative of the greatest nation

In other words, a politician. A politician who is whoring himself out by going there.

With your resolve of American Spirit we would still be under the rule of the British

That's just classic, a ChiCom sheep judging the American resolve for freedom.

The hell with the athletes, the hell with Bush, and the hell ESPECIALLY with China, me and thousands of others are going to be politicizing this and doing our best to turn this Olympics into the disaster it deserves to be. Get used to it.

“The best way to win over hearts and minds for freedom is to expose the Chinese to it.”

If only that were possible. The only thing the Chinese are allowed by their authoritarian government to be exposed to, is government mandated communist propaganda. Indeed that is all anyone attending the Olympics will be allowed to be exposed to according to the Chinese government.

All over China, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities, Chinese citizens aim their satellite dishes southward to pull in stations from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. They can thus receive uncensored broadcasts from the BBC, CNN, and other “free” news sources.

If you are that sure of that position, let me take you to meet those athletes and you can say that to them directly. What a buffoonish statement. How about we just take your life's ambition and work and throw you in the toilet. Yours is the most idiotic statement I have ever read. Infuriatingly so.

Sports does not exist in a vacuum. We don't leave our fundamental, God-given rights behind as we enter a sports stadium.

Then don't enter the stadium. Are you seriously saying you agree with Jimmy Carter. I can not believe this is FR. People willing to cut and run, hide and shirk when the calling is to proclaim how great liberty is.

God may have given you the rights, but in this world it is up to you to fight to hold onto them. Afraid of a couple of billion Chinese. Geez. I don't see your white flag. Where is it. You forgot to include it in your post.

Actually I made no mention of the athletes, and did not suggest, as you contend, that they stay home. I suggested that it was regrettable that the President would be in attendance as it lends undeserved prestige and credibility. I would not want to prevent these athletes from their hard-earned opportunity to compete, and did not suggest so.

I misunderstood your point. Thanks for the clarification.

I will still disagree. The leader of the free world should lead. He should stand like that young man in front of the tank in Tiananmen and proclaim, America does not dip its flag. It does not run. It does not hide. Our presidents stands for freedom and is strong to look the enemies of liberty right in the eye.

You might have thought it your point. I see your view as cowardice. It is so perplexing to me how someone can see a confrontation, choose to stay home and watch it on TV and call that standing proud. I suppose we will not agree. I could never come to accept your view on this.

Only to those that politicize them from afar. Not to those that participate in them. One day the rest of you will accept the ideal. Until then the world has no hope of peace, not if we can not have it for two weeks of the Games.

Call it an unrealistic ideal if you want but your position is to make it a fait accompli.

If you are that sure of that position, let me take you to meet those athletes and you can say that to them directly.

I'll tell them right to their face that they're a bunch of whores for glorifying such a crap hole country with their presence especially in light of their Iraqi brethren being banned from there. If that "infuriates" you, tough.

So if you are rich enough to have a satellite dish you can see socialist news broadcasts from socialist media sources. Thats good to know. Still it's too bad the Internet is censored since thats the only reliable way to access fact as opposed to politically biased opinion.

I have to agree with you. It would be hypocritical and disingenuous for America to boycott the China Olympics for political reasons while at the same time sucking from the teat of Chicom labor that provides low, low price orgasms at WalMart and countless other consumer supply depots in the US.

Just what I read. So you think this article is inaccurate and that despite Chinese official announcements that Internet access will be censored, not just for Chinese but also for visitors and journalists to the Olympics, that instead the Internet will not be censored? Interesting.

I suppose if one denies the existence of reality, despite evidence, then it could appear to that person that someone who was not in denial would not know what they are talking about. I will assume this is the case with you.

So you're telling me the Chinese government is not making this thing political?

I did not say that. I said we should not shirk from the fight. You can take that as an acknowledgment if you want that the Chinese do hope to make it political. My view is that we should not stay home in the face of that challege.

You said, The only thing the Chinese are allowed by their authoritarian government to be exposed to, is government mandated communist propaganda.

I said that is aboslutely uninformed. And it is.

On the article about censorship of the internet, you need to read carefully the article. The article implies there will be new censorship, that journalist over there will not be able to access some parts of the internet. Those are not new restrictions. They have always been there. Specifically, the sites of Fulan Gong, a cult, are blocked.

You can disagree about the Fulan Gong, but I have seen them in action in China. They are indeed a cult and should not be allowed to prey on people as they have. You are entitled to your view about them.

Finally, there is no way to block the Western media from accessing those sites. You can access any website in the world from China. Perhaps not through the Chinese web servers but certainly through many other routes.

The article itself is the king of propaganda you say you are opposed to. The article is disingenuous. Reporters are trying to telling you of their objection to having something blocked that they can access in an instant. If they were being straight forward with you, they would be saying that during the Games they want the Chinese to be able to access websites such as those of the Fulan Gong.

I hope you perceive the nuance here. Propoganda is nuance, the most successful kind anyhow. If you are not in tune with that nuance, you allow yourself to be deceived by the your emotions that are played upon and preyed upon.

I hope that explains it and my apology if I was too harsh in my earlier post to you. I get cranky sometimes, let my emotions take over.

“The article is disingenuous. Reporters are trying to telling you of their objection to having something blocked that they can access in an instant. If they were being straight forward with you, they would be saying that during the Games they want the Chinese to be able to access websites such as those of the Fulan Gong....”

I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. More than just Fulon Gong sites are blocked, and while computer experts probably could access these blocked sites “in an instant” as you say, stupid journalists probably couldn't do so even if their lives depended on it.

Just one more note - and it has been covered here many times, FR is freely accessible in China. You can buy the USAToday and any number of western news publications in China.

I understand your notions. On my first trip to China, I was reading Newsweek i picked up for the flight. When I landed in China, I thought, oh my, I better not take this magazine into China. I left it in the seat back.

At the newstand in the airport, there in the gift shop, right at the front of the store, was the very same issue in the rack that I had left on the plane.

No, if you have a satellite dish you can see news reports from free nations, unless you consider the US, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, etc. “socialist nations.” Moreover, I’m sitting here in Beijing right now talking to you over Free Republic. The censored sites are mainly those that advocate separatism or that shine a light on Chinese repression. But if one really wants to read about these topics, it’s not so hard (here in Beijing) to find web sites with that sort of information.

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